I thought Saved By A Song was excellent. Songwriters don’t always make good book authors, but Mary Gauthier certainly does; this is thoughtful, perceptive, humane and very readable.
It probably helps to be a fan of Mary Gauthier’s work – which I am – but it’s certainly not essential. She takes a number of songs as chapter titles, most but not all of which are by her. In so doing she weaves autobiographical strands with the story of how each song came to be or how it affected her and the overall effect is stunning, I think – sometimes almost literally so. She has the rare combination of the wisdom and insight to know what is what, the honesty to confront it and call it by its right name and the courage to express it, however painful or difficult that may be. Mary’s songs have show that clearly and it shines through here, too.
She also talks about the process of songwriting, but this isn’t a manual of techniques by any means. It is more that she shows us how lyrics develop, how she (and others) see that a song sometimes doesn’t really work and the sometimes slow, painstaking and intuitive process of boiling it down to honest essentials. It’s not a recipe book for anyone looking to know how to craft a hit; it is a thoughtful guide to making songs true to their meaning and to their author, and how that can sometimes lead to something remarkable.
Mary’s accounts of her life, of her encounters with remarkable people and of the effects of songs and songwriting are sometimes profoundly moving and I found myself damp of eye several times during the book. I would urge anyone, fan or not, to give this a try. It is very well written, very readable and very rewarding. Very warmly recommended.
No comments:
Post a Comment